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Saturday is football day...for now at least




There is an oddity within ELO's Diary of Horace Wimp.

During the final throes of the Electric Light Orchestra's slightly Beatles-like song of 1979, the days of the week are called out - all with the exception of Saturday.


Why no Saturday? Well, according to singer Jeff Lynne, it's because Saturday is football day. And nobody wants to miss the match on a Saturday.


But for how much longer?


From 2025, according to Martyn Ziegler, 270 of the 380 Premier League games will be shown live on TV. These include all 10 matches on the final day of the season - which will go out live simultaneously on a Sunday - and, for the first time, all Sunday 2pm games (moved due to a particular club's participation in Thursday's UEFA competitions) will also be shown live.


In addition, the usual time slots of 12.30pm and 5.30pm on Saturday; 2pm and 4.30pm on Sunday; and Monday/Friday 8pm will also be included.


It means there will be occasional weekends where there are barely any Saturday 3pm games in the Premier League. The notion being that this protects attendances and participation elsewhere during the 2.45pm-5.15pm TV blackout period.


Whether or not you agree with this rule - there are compelling arguments either way, including this one from Michael Cox of The Athletic - there is little doubt where this is going.


There have been discussions - some of which I've been privy to in the past - involving Premier League clubs and, separately, broadcast stakeholders (domestic and overseas). It was made very clear the overseas' demands on clubs would be increasing, both in terms of screen time and access. The UK-based TV channels have also cranked up their own wants over the years. Half-time interviews have been on the agenda, as has greater access to dressing room areas, along with more pre-and-post match access and further 'interference' (not my words, but those of the clubs) from broadcasters. Those discussions have continued since.


Some of it will play out, some of it may be resisted - for now, at least.


But the future will be more consuming, more intrusive.


Broadcasters will rightly point out the obvious: if you want those big annual injections of money - the ones which finance those expensive footballers and their wages - then you'll do what broadcasters want.


It means we are heading towards a scenario where there may be NO Premier League games broadcast between 3pm-5pm on a Saturday - to ensure no interference with the blackout rule - with games starting on a Friday night and running until Monday.


The logistics do make this possible over the course of a weekend. A Friday 8pm game, followed by a Saturday game at 12.30pm, and another at 5.30pm and perhaps one more at 8pm. This would be followed by four or five games on a Sunday - starting at noon, ending with an 8pm game - with the potential for two or more games being broadcast simultaneously, although ideally, there being no clash at all. An 8pm Monday game would tie-up the 'weekend'.


But what about those supporters who need to get home on public transport? That's their problem, unfortunately. This is about serving those who view football through the optics of a screen, be it a tiny iPhone or Samsung, or a 70ins state-of-the-art QLED.


This is shaping up to be the future of football, certainly in the Premier League. Fans of top flight clubs will be the ones fitting in around the scheduling.


Horace Wimp, assuming he's the supporter of a Premier League club, might as well find something else to do on a Saturday between 3pm and 5pm.



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